Leigh (St. James)
LEIGH (St. James), a parish, in the union of Tewkesbury, partly in the lower division of the hundred of Westminster, but chiefly in the Lower division of that of Deerhurst, E. division of the county of Gloucester, 4 miles (W. N. W.) from Cheltenham; containing, with the hamlet of Evington, 489 inhabitants. It is situated in the vale of Gloucester; the surface is nearly level, but richly embellished with timber, of which oak and elm are the prevailing kinds. The soil is a blue clay, and the chief crops are wheat and beans; the pastures are rich, and the lands are watered by the river Severn, and intersected by the Coombe-Hill canal. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 16. 3.; the patronage and impropriation belong to the Crown, and the net income of the incumbent is £247. The church is ancient.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.